The quark confinement mechanism is one of the most difficult problems in particle physics, and is listed as the 7 difficult mathematical problems of the new millennium. The first person who first solves this problem will be awarded a prize of US$ 1 Million by Cray Mathematics Institute. This volume is useful for the systematic understanding of quark confinement and nonperturbative aspects of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) from the wide viewpoints of mathematical physics, lattice QCD physics and quark-hadron physics. It covers the current studies of nonperturbative QCD: quark confinement mechanism; topologies in QCD (instantons, monopoles and vortices); BRS quartet mechanism for color confinement; lattice QCD calculations for quarks, gluons and hadrons; dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and hadrons.

The 20-year-old problem of the confinement and the resulting spectrum of the bound states is central to quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Many approaches have been tried starting from different points of view: the potential theory, the Bethe-Salpeter equation, string and flux tube models, bag models, vacuum structure, current algebra, lattice theory, and numerical simulations. Phenomenological assumptions and first-principle theoretical results or indications have been combined. Many partial successes have been attained, but a unified and comprehensive treatment is still lacking.In recent years, new attention has been given to the problem, both in terms of theoretical developments and for the purpose of evaluating the spectrum and other properties of the particles. In particular, attention has been focussed on areas like numerical simulations, the derivation of the potential, the use of the Bethe-Salpeter equation, the connection between the potential and the chiral symmetry approach.This workshop was an opportunity for a synthesis and a comparison of the different points of view.

This book makes a global survey of nonperturbative aspects of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) from the viewpoints of mathematical, elementary-particle and hadron physics, including recent lattice-QCD results. It presents current, important progress in the following areas: the quark confinement mechanism, dynamical chiral-symmetry breaking, topologies in QCD (instantons, monopoles, vortices), SUSY QCD, nonperturbative methods (1/Nc, ladder QCD, AdS/CFT), QCD phase transition at finite temperature and density, quark-gluon plasma, and so on. For recent topics, the book also includes the experimental.

Contents:Progress of RFQ and Superconducting Accelerators in China (C E Chen et al.)QCD Phase Transition in the Laboratory and in the Early Universe (B Sinha)Frontiers in Ultrafast Laser Science (W Sibbett)Asymmetries of Sea Quark Distributions in Baryons (M Alberg et al.)A Variational Approach to Many-Particle Systems (C K Kim et al.)Synchrotron Radiation Activities at KEK (M Kihara)Results of the UNU/ICTP PFF Network (S Lee)New Generation Positron-Atom Scattering Theories (K Ratnavelu)Superconducting Pairing of Quarks in QCD (N V Hieu & L T Tuong)Photon-Gated Persistent Spectral Hole Burning (Y X Nie & L Z Zhao)Wind Driven Circulation of the South China Sea (A Camerlengo)Effect of Soil Type on Environmental Terrestrial Gamma Radiation Dose in Johor State, Malaysia (A T Ramli et al.)Research in Optical Fibres Devices at Telekom Malaysia Photonics Laboratory (H B Ahmad et al.)Simplifying Complexity (W A T Wan Abdullah)Gravitational Wave Detection in the Laboratory (Y T Chen et al.)and other papers Readership: Theoretical physicists.

One of the most fundamental questions in understanding strong interaction is whether or not quarks and gluons play a significant role in nuclear systems. At high densities we need to explore the existence and nature of a deconfinement phase transition. At lower densities we wish to study the changes in the properties of a hadron particle as mass and electroweak form factors, when it is immersed in nuclear matter. Finally, we may even ask whether the internal structure of the nucleon plays a role in the binding and properties of finite nuclei.On the theoretical side the issues raised here are of concern to a very broad community, from those working in traditional many-body physics, to those building effective field theories, to those working in lattice QCD. Experimentally, there are many accelerators, mature, new and planned, which can offer insight into this field — from SLAC to HERA, COSY, CELSIUS and TJNAF. This workshop brought together key figures from all areas of theoretical and experimental physics concerned with this fundamental problem.

The Predeal International Summer School, held at the Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania, is a prestigious scientific event. The school first took place in 1969 and since then it has been held every two years.This year the lectures were given by more than 30 outstanding professors, covering timely subjects in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics. In addition, there were special sessions of contributed papers presenting the most recent results in these domains. The aim of the school was thus two-fold: to give basic information on some hot subjects of research in nuclear physics and to present them with the most recent achievements in these fields. This volume contains the proceedings of the school.

The NEWS99 international symposium discusses symmetries in electroweak processes in nuclei. Many phenomena in nuclear and particle physics are related to symmetry. It is known that we are living in a left-handed world as far as the Weak interaction is concerned, but neutrino physics suggests that a right-handed world may also be relevant. Chiral symmetry and its breaking plays an essential role in generating hadron masses. Symmetries related to flavor in the strong interaction like isospin, SU(3) and so on are known to be violated although they play a crucial role for the understanding of phenomena in nuclear and particle physics. The treatment of tiny breaking is of particular importance. Weak and electromagnetic interactions are well established at the fundamental level and can be used to probe the structure of nuclei and hadrons. A wide variety of phenomena in nuclear and particle physics were discussed in NEWS99 with an emphasis on symmetry. Topics ranged from nuclear structure to neutrino properties,,covering highly phenomenological to fundamental fields.